Facebook will soon let you broadcast live video of yourself

You'll soon be able to share a live video broadcast of yourself on Facebook.

The social network announced on Thursday that it's starting to add a live video option to "a small percentage of people in the U.S. on iPhones" with plans to introduce the feature to more people over time.

Once enabled in the Facebook app, you'll be able to select a new "Live Video" icon under the update status window. A broadcast can have a brief description and be shared publicly or just with your friends.

When you go live, you'll see how many people are watching live and a real-time stream of comments.

Finished broadcasts are saved to your profile's timeline and can be deleted or saved to watch later like any other video on Facebook.

The feature is almost identical to other streaming apps like the Twitter-owned Periscope app and Meerkat, the latter of which can already share broadcasts directly to Facebook.